A lesson in love
by Ale Carter
Summary: After Melinda suffers a lot because of Piper and Leo´s divorce, she decides to make some changes.


It was 8 am when the alarm clock rang in Piper´s bedroom

It was 8 am when the alarm clock rang in Piper´s bedroom. She opened her eyes and turned it off. She stretched her arms to hug Leo, but he wasn´t in bed next to her, as usual. Her life hadn´t changed a bit, except that she had been married for 4 years now, and she had a 3 year old daughter. But she was still living in the same house with her sisters and her husband was never there with her.

"Mommy,mommy" yelled Melinda running towards Piper

"Oh baby, what are you doing up? It´s still early" answered Piper giving her daughter a big kiss.

"I missed you, mommy"

"I missed you too, sweetie" said Piper tickling Melinda"Are your cousins up?"

Melinda nodded "Why don´t you go play with Andy and Patty?"

Melinda gave her mom a big hug and ran towards her cousins´room.

Piper woke up and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Even though it was early, there was a lot of noise in the house. There were 8 people living under that roof, well, 6 if you don´t count Leo and Cole who were never around. 

Prue was divorced and had a 2 year old boy named Andy, while Phoebe was married to Cole and had a 2 year old girl named Patty. Piper loved living with her sisters, but she sometimes wished she could have a normal life, a picket fence house, a dog, and a husband who would be around when she needed him.

Piper was making pancakes for everyone when she spotted a yellow light appearing in front of her.

"It was about time. Where were you?" asked Piper not even looking at him

"Oh, I love you too, honey" said Leo approaching his wife and giving her a kiss.

"You think a kiss will make me forgive you, huh? Well, it is too late, Leo. After four years, I´m getting tired of you never being around ..."

"You know I have people to take care of, Piper. They need me and I have to be there to help them" answered Leo calmly

"Well, I need you, Melinda needs you ... I´ve been very understanding all these years, but I just can´t stand it anymore. If your job is more important than your family, there´s only one thing to do" yelled Piper trying not to cry, she loved Leo, but she had been feeling very lonely ever since she married him and she couldn´t take that feeling anymore.

"What are you talking about?" asked Leo very confused, he couldn´t believe what he was hearing.

"You know damn well what I am talking about, Leo. I don´t think our marriage is working" yelled Piper, she didn´t care if her sisters were hearing her, even her daughter.

"But ..." Leo had tears on his eyes "You want us to get a divorce?"

Piper nodded "Why are you so sad, Leo? Nothing will change for you, you´ll still have ´them´ and you are never here to play with Melinda, so I am sure you won´t even miss her"

"How can you say that? I love Melinda more than anyone in this world, and I adore you, Piper. I am sure we can work this out" whispered Leo touching Piper´s cheek.

"We´ve been trying to work this out for 4 years and everything´s still the same. I´m sorry, Leo. But this is my final decision" said Piper rushing upstairs and closing her bedroom door.

Phoebe and Prue had heard everything, and they didn´t understand what had happened. Leo and Piper were the reason why they believed in love, they had conquered every frontier to be together. They couldn´t believe that after all the pain Piper had gone through to marry Leo, she wanted to get divorced.

"Prue, we have to do something" said Phoebe looking straight into Prue´s blue eyes.

"There´s nothing we can do, Phoebe. It´s their decision" answered Prue. She remembered how her divorce was like, she was still pregnant, so Andy never met his father.

In that minute, Melinda opened her aunt´s door and stepped in.

"Why were mommy and daddy yelling?" asked the little girl

Prue sat Melinda on her lap and told her.

"They are having problems, Mel. Grown-up problems"

"But mommy is crying in her room. What did daddy do to make her so mad?" asked Melinda with her big eyes.

"Well, she´s mad at him because he hasn´t been around lately, honey" said Phoebe wiping some tears from Melinda´s little face "But everything will be ok. I promise."

"I love mommy and I don´t like her being sad" said Melinda giving Prue and Phoebe a big hug.

Then, she went outside to play with Patty and Andy.

The following days were the same, Piper and Leo fought every time they saw each other. Two weeks later, everything was settled, they were going to get a divorce.

"I´m sorry we couldn´t change our fate, Piper. I know you wanted to change the future, I guess there are some things that cannot be changed" said Leo giving Piper what seemed to be the last kiss. Then, he turned to see Melinda "I love you, sweetie. Call me whenever you need me"

Melinda looked at Leo with a puzzled look, she didn´t understand what was happening, why her dad was saying good bye.

"Where are you going, daddy? When will you be back?"

"I´ll be here when you need me, everything will be the same between the two of us, the only difference is that we won´t be living under the same roof" said Leo giving Melinda a hug before orbing out.

Piper lifted her little girl up "We´ll be fine, Mel. Daddy will always love you. I promise"

*Nine years later*

After Leo and Piper got divorced, Melinda never saw her dad again. She was now 12 years old and she couldn´t forgive her parents for lying to her. Her dad had said he would be around and her mom promised that he would always loved her.

"Why are you so mad, Mel?" asked Patty looking at her cousin

"Today a girl at school asked me why my dad hadn´t gone to the parent/teacher meeting" explained Melinda "I miss him, Patty. And mom hasn´t been the same since he left, she seems sad or angry all the time. I wish I could go back in time and change everything"

Piper knocked on Melinda´s door and let herself in

"Hi honey, I heard you got into a fight today at school" said Piper "Why?"

"Don´t talk to me, it´s all your fault. You made promises you couldn´t keep, I hate you" yelled Melinda running to the attic.

"Melinda!!!" Piper ran behind her, but Melinda locked herself inside the attic "Melinda, open this door. I want to talk to you"

The girl didn´t answer, instead she took the Book of Shadows and began looking for a spell. Suddenly, she saw the spell she was looking for.

"The ´Go back in time spell´" read Melinda "I need a candle"

Melinda grabbed the candle, lit it up and began reading the spell.

To go back in time, just make these words rhyme. 

For those who want to see the past, make this candle light last.

Let me go back all these years, and send me to my beloved dears.

When Melinda finished saying the spell, she found herself in the attic. But it was very different from the one she knew.

Prue was trying on her new dress when she heard something in the attic, she rushed upstairs and opened the door with her powers

"Go away, you ..." Prue saw that it was only a girl "Hi, how did you get here?"

Melinda looked at her and noticed she looked a lot like her aunt.

"I ... I was home doing some reading and then, I appeared here" explained Melinda.

Prue looked at her with an amazement look. That girl looked a lot like Piper, she had her same eyes.

"Ok, let´s get you downstairs" said Prue smiling "Tell me, what´s your name?"

"Melinda" she answered

"Melinda? As in Melinda Halliwell?" asked Prue sounding excited.

"Yes, I knew you´d recognized me, Aunt Prue" said Melinda giving Prue a big hug.

"Oh God, you look a lot like Piper. What are you doing here?" asked Prue still amazed.

"My mom and my dad got divorced 9 years ago. Well, they´ll get divorce in 4 years. Are they married now?" asked Melinda, she was very confused with the past/future thing.

"Yes, they got married 6 months ago" answered the oldest sister.

"I came here to make some changes, I don´t want them to get divorced. Where is mom?" asked Melinda looking around.

"She´s working" answered Prue.

"Hi, is anybody home? Hey, sister witches!" yelled Phoebe

"I guess that´s Aunt Phoebe, huh? She hasn´t changed, well, she won´t change a bit"

"We´re here, Phoebe" said Prue going downstairs and holding Melinda´s hand.

"Hmm, Prue, who is your little friend here? She looks like our middle sister when she was 10" Phoebe stared at Melinda.

"I am not 10, I am 12 and a half" scoffed Melinda

"Oh, I´m so sorry." Phoebe laughed at the girl, she was so cute, she had a very sweet glance.

"She´s Melinda, Piper´s daughter from the future" explained Prue, she also explained her why she was there.

"Wow, you are Piper´s girl? You are so pretty. Tell me Mel, do I have children?" asked Phoebe excitedly

"Phoebe!" Prue scolded her little sister "We´re not supposed to know anything from the future"

"I know, but a little information won´t hurt anyone" said Phoebe smiling

"Aunt Phoebe, you have a girl, Patty, she is 11 years old in my time" said Melinda "What year is this?"

"It´s 2001, Mel" answered Prue "What year was it before you came?"

"2013 ... I was born in 2001, so does that mean that mom is pregnant with me?" asked Melinda with a huge grin.

"I don´t think so, honey, she hasn´t said anything" answered Phoebe "And we Halliwells have a rule. No secrets between us, it isn´t healthy ... So, Patty? Huh? I must´ve named her after mom"

"That is so sweet, Phoebs" Prue smiled at the thought of her mom.

"Aunt Prue, you have a boy, Andy, he is also 11. I am the oldest" said Melinda with a proud look on her face

"Andy? I´ll name my son Andy?" Prue was impressed she had made that decision, or was going to make that decision.

"You still miss him, huh?" asked Phoebe laying a hand on her sister´s shoulder.

"Yes, I guess I do ... Mel, let´s go find your mom, ok?"

Prue and Phoebe took Melinda by the hand, in that moment, Leo orbed in.

"Hi, is Piper around?" asked Leo looking at the girl, she reminded him of someone.

"She is at P3, we´re on our way to see her. This is Melinda, your daughter" Phoebe let go Melinda´s hand "Say hello to your dad"

Melinda stared at Leo, but didn´t say anything to him.

"Can we please go find mom?"

Leo approached his girl

"Oh, you are so beautiful, just like your mother" said Leo giving Melinda a hug

"Can we please go?" Melinda didn´t know how to react, he had made a promise he hadn´t kept, but it wasn´t that Leo, it was his future self.

"Let´s go" said Prue opening the front door.

"We´re here" said Prue parking the car in front of P3.

The ride there had been a very quiet one, Melinda hadn´t said a single word, even though Leo had asked her many things. It was clear that she was mad at him.

"This looks exactly the same" said Melinda stepping out of the car. She ran to the door and opened it.

There she saw a young woman sitting at a table. She looked like her mother, only younger. She couldn´t stop staring at Piper.

Piper heard the door and turned around. She saw this beautiful girl, she was like a young version of herself.

"Hi sweetie, how can I help you?" said Piper smiling

"I ... I am ..." Melinda was too nervous to talk

Piper stood up and went to the door, she held her hand and went downstairs with Melinda.

"You are so pretty" whispered Melinda

"You are very beautiful yourself" said Piper touching Melinda´s cheek.

"I think we have to leave them alone" said Phoebe "They have to talk, why don´t we stay here, if they need any help, they´ll call"

"You are right, Phoebs" said Prue giving Leo a ´you-also-stay-here´ look.

"But I want to see my daughter and Piper is my wife" said Leo.

"They have to be able to talk alone" explained Prue hoping Leo would understand.

Piper and Melinda sat in a table near the stairs.

"Do you want anything to drink?" asked Piper sweetly.

Melinda shook her head "No, I ... I need to talk to you. My name is Melinda"

"My Melinda?" asked Piper in amazement "Oh my God, what are you doing here? I mean, how did you get here? Oh, how old are you? Do I know that you are here? Well, my future self?" Piper was so nervous that she began to babble.

Her daughter laughed.

"I´m 12 years old, mom " said Melinda looking at how young her mother looked "I casted a spell to go back in time"

Piper couldn´t help staring at her, her girl was so beautiful and innocent. She had a very special glance.

"Oh, and what was that for? Do you need any help with a demon?" asked Piper still smiling.

"No, it wouldn´t hurt so much if my problem was related to demons" Melinda looked at Piper and started to talk about her reasons for going there "I casted the spell to stop you and dad from getting divorced ..."

Piper didn´t let her daughter finish the sentence .

"We do get divorced?" asked Piper looking sad, she had wished that she would be able to change what she saw when she went to the future "I guess all my efforts didn´t work, huh?"

Melinda stared at her without knowing what to say.

"I´m sorry, honey. Please continue" said Piper.

"Well, thing have been horrible at home since dad went away, I haven´t seen him in 9 years. You and daddy made a promise and neither of you two kept it" said Melinda with tears in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" asked Piper feeling sorry for hurting her little girl.

"You promised everything would be alright, that daddy would always love me, but..." Melinda started crying "But nothing is fine, you are mad all the time, or you are crying because you miss him"

Piper hugged her girl and whispered

"I´m sorry, Mel. I never meant to cause you any pain ... Tell me, sweetie, do you remember why Leo and I argued?"

Melinda shook her head

"I´m not sure, you were always complaining that he was never there for you"

Prue, Phoebe and Leo had been waiting outside for a long time now.

"Can we go in now?" asked Leo anxiously.

Prue nodded and the three of them went inside P3. They saw that Piper and Melinda were hugging. 

Piper heard a noise and lifted her head to see who it was.

"Leo, have you met our daughter?" asked Piper smiling at him "We did ... We are going to do something very wrong, Leo. We´re going to make a bad decision that will ruin our daughter´s life"

Leo looked at her without knowing what she was talking about.

"We got divorced, do you think this is a good time to start with the right foot?" asked Piper holding Leo´s hand.

"Well, I do want to make this work ... I love you, Piper" then he saw Melinda "I´m sorry I broke my promise"

"How did you know?" asked Melinda

Leo pointing to the ceiling "You know, I have connections up there"

Melinda smiled and hugged her dad

"I´ve missed you, daddy"

"Don´t worry, Mel. We´ll work everything out" said Leo "Now, I think it´s time for you to go back. Your mommy will be very worried if you don´t, right Piper?"

Piper smiled and nodded.

"I love you, Melinda ... Before you go, do you like that name? I can always change it" said Piper

"I love it, mom" she answered hugging Piper and letting Leo take her to her own time.

* Back in 2013 *

When Melinda arrived, she saw her parents cuddling in the couch. She smiled and said with a huge grin

"You are together, it worked" 

Piper and Leo stared at her and smiled, they were very happy as a couple.

"Leo, do you ever regret clipping your wings?" asked Piper

"Never, I´d rather take care of you and Melinda ... And you know, I want to grow old with you" said Leo giving Piper a kiss.

* 2001 *

Piper saw her daughter and her husband orbing out. She put her hand on her tummy and whispered to it.

"We´ll meet very soon, Melinda"


End file.
